LUDOVIC MORLOT AND THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY RELEASE DEFINING RECORDING WITH TWO WORKS COMPOSED IN RESPONSE TO THE NEW WORLD

Monday, 18 May, 2015

On June 9, Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony release the sixth disc on their Grammy-nominated in-house label, Seattle Symphony Media. This album features the pairing of works that represent two European composers’ first impressions of the New World: Antonín Dvořák’s beloved Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World” and Edgard Varèse’s lesser known yet defining orchestral piece Amériques.

The juxtaposition of these two works is another example of the Seattle Symphony’s highly successful programming philosophy under Ludovic Morlot — contrasting repertoire masterpieces with lesser-known sounds of modernism and beyond. Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 was composed while the composer lived in New York City from 1892 to 1895, and is inspired by spirituals and Native American music. By contrast, Varèse’s Amériques is influenced by the sounds of urban life and displays the composer at his most primal. Written only 30 years apart, Symphony No. 9 looks back at the Romantic era, while Amériques is an incisive statement looking forward to the modern era.

The album captures the Seattle Symphony in electrifying live performances at Benaroya Hall. To obtain a digital review copy or other information on the release, please click here and contact You You Xia at youyou.xia@seattlesymphony.org for log in credentials.

Digital downloads and CDs are available through iTunes and Amazon. Seattle Symphony Media recordings are also available in 96k 24-bit high resolution and 5.1 surround sound formats.

The Seattle Symphony is grateful to Joan Watjen for her generous support of SEATTLE SYMPHONY MEDIA in memory of her husband Craig.

Recorded live in concert at the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, Benaroya Hall, Seattle, Washington, on September 29 & October 1, 2011 (Varèse), and October 2–4, 2014 (Dvořák).

The 2011 performances were presented as part of the Wyckoff Masterworks Season. The 2014 performances were presented as part of the Delta Air Lines Masterworks Season.

“A French conductor with a commanding baton and an invigorating vision….his programming is both daring and cohesive.” - The Oregonian

“The Seattle Symphony, under leadership of Ludovic Morlot, is a revitalized orchestra, avid for new music and offbeat programming.” - The New Yorker

Launched in 2014, Seattle Symphony Media is the Seattle Symphony’s independent in-house record label. The Symphony has an extensive catalogue of over 140 recordings, which have brought forth 18 Grammy Award nominations throughout its history. Under the direction of Music Director Ludovic Morlot, and President & CEO Simon Woods, the Symphony's in-house record label features both “core repertoire” and some of the eclectic and contemporary programming for which the Seattle Symphony has become recognized. The label includes both studio recordings and performances captured live in concert, allowing the organization an unprecedented breadth of repertoire choices.

All recordings are made in the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall and engineered by the Grammy-nominated recording engineer Dmitriy Lipay. Using the Symphony’s own state-of-the-art in-house recording studio, recordings have been engineered to audiophile standards and aim to capture as realistically as possible the sound of the orchestra performing onstage with naturalistic imaging, depth of field and dynamic range. Distributed by Naxos of America, the recordings are available in both physical and digital formats from a variety of retailers. Digital content is available in stereo, “Mastered for iTunes,” 96k 24-bit high resolution and 5.1 surround sound.

About Ludovic Morlot

French conductor Ludovic Morlot is Music Director of the Seattle Symphony. During the 2014–2015 season Morlot and the Seattle Symphony will continue to invite their audiences to ‘listen boldly’, presenting a wide variety of works ranging from Mozart’s Requiem, Dvořák’s last three symphonies, Berlioz Roméo et Juliette and Mahler Symphony No. 3 to Ives, Dutilleux and Salonen as well as premieres by Sebastian Currier, Julian Anderson and Trimpin.

Ludovic Morlot was Chief Conductor of La Monnaie for three years (2012–14). During this time he conducted several new productions including La Clemenza di Tito, Jenufa and Pelléas et Mélisande. Concert performances, both in Brussels and Aix-en-Provence, included repertoire by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Britten, Webern and Bruneau.

During the 2014–2015 season Morlot will return to both the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. He also has a strong connection with the Boston Symphony Orchestra whom he conducts regularly in Boston and Tanglewood and recently on a tour to the west coast of America. This relationship started when he was the Seiji Ozawa Fellowship Conductor at the Tanglewood Music Center and subsequently appointed assistant conductor for the orchestra and their Music Director James Levine (2004–07). Morlot has also conducted the New York Philharmonic and the symphony orchestras in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Elsewhere, Morlot’s engagements have included the Royal Concertgebouw, London Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Budapest Festival, Orchestre National de France, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestras.

Trained as a violinist, Morlot studied conducting in London and was conductor in residence with the Orchestre National de Lyon (2002–04). Morlot was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2014. He is Chair of Orchestral Conducting Studies at the University of Washington School of Music in Seattle.

About the Seattle Symphony

Founded in 1903, the Seattle Symphony is one of America’s leading symphony orchestras and is internationally acclaimed for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot since September 2011, the Symphony is heard live from September through July by more than 300,000 people. It performs in one of the finest modern concert halls in the world — the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall — in downtown Seattle. Its extensive education and community-engagement programs reach over 100,000 children and adults each year. The Seattle Symphony has a deep commitment to new music, commissioning many works by living composers each season, including John Luther Adams’ recent Become Ocean, which won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music and a 2015 Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. The orchestra has made more than 140 recordings and has received 18 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades. In 2014 the Symphony launched its in-house recording label, Seattle Symphony Media.